When I go to restaurants, I usually order steak if it’s on the menu…. That is, unless there is also beef wellington on the menu. This is one of those dishes that is steak, but it is so much more than that. This rich buttery pastry wrapped steak will melt in your mouth and also provide a distinct crunch when it’s done right. It is the perfect combination of savoury with a little bit of sweetness. This dish was named after the first Duke of Wellington, but I think it’s a meal fit for a king or queen.
Trim the tenderloin to remove any silver skin or surface fat from the roast. Spray it down with duck fat spray and then season with Little Louie’s. In a pre-heated skillet on high heat, add the vegetable oil and then sear the tenderloin on all sides. Make sure to brown all the surfaces of the meat including the ends (who doesn’t love the end pieces!). Once this is done, remove from the heat and slather with a layer of Grannies Gold Mustard.
Prepping the Duxelles
In a large mixing bowl, add the mushrooms, shallots, garlic, thyme, garlic butter and butter. Mix all of these ingredients really well. Depending on your fine chopping skills, you can throw all of these ingredients into a food processor to turn this into a paste. Add this mixture to the hot skillet and stir for about 10 minutes until you have cooked out any excess moisture from the mushroom mixture. Then remove it from the heat and set aside.
Getting ready to wrap it all up
Lay out a piece of plastic wrap about 16” long (twice as long as the tenderloin). On top of the plastic wrap, lay the prosciutto out so that it is slightly longer than the tenderloin and slightly overlapping the slices. Now you want to spoon the Duxelles onto the prosciutto and spread it out in a thin even layer all over. Next, place the tenderloin onto the edge of the Duxelles and using the plastic wrap to assist, roll it all up tightly like a sushi roll. You want to go quite tight, but not so tight that the Duxelles pushes out of the wrap. Once it is full wrapped up, twist the plastic wrap up and place it in the fridge for about half an hour.
Puff Pastry
You can get puff pasty in the freezer section of most grocery stores, so you don’t need to be a baker to execute this one. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry wife enough to cover the whole tenderloin and about 2-3” longer than the tenderloin on both ends. Place the pastry onto a 16” sheet of plastic wrap, and then grab your tenderloin out of the fridge. Unwrap the tenderloin and place it onto the puff pastry. Using the same sushi rolling method as you did before, roll the whole log until the pastry full encases the tenderloin, fold the ends in and wrap tightly in the plastic wrap, back into the fridge for 20 minutes.
Smoking the Wellington
Preheat the smoker to 425 degreesWhile the smoker is heating and the wellington is chilling, beat the egg yolks to make a wash for the surface of the pastry. Remove the pastry from the fridge and unwrap it from the plastic. Place the Wellington on a parchment lined sheet pan and brush with the beaten yolks. Next you want to score a design into the puff pastry to make it pretty.Place the wellington into the smoker on the sheet pant and smoke until you get an internal temperature of 125 F. Remove it from the smoker and rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Step by Step
Trim the tenderloin clean of any silverskin and surface fat
Sear the Tenderloin on all sides in a hot skillet with oil
Brush the tenderloin with Grannies mustard and then set aside
Make the Duxelles by finely chopping the mushrooms, shallots, garlic thyme, butter and seasoning
Cook the Duxelles in the skillet for 10 minutes until moisture is removed
Lay out prosciutto and Duxelles flat on plastic wrap and place tenderloin on top, wrap it up and place in the fridge for 30 minutes
Roll out the puff pastry on a piece of plastic wrap, wrap the tenderloin in the middle and then back into the fridge
Pre-heat the smoker
Prep the egg wash
Brush the Wellington with Egg wash and cut design into pastry
Place Wellington onto parchment lined sheet pan and then onto smoker
Smoke until you hit 125 F internal temperature on the tenderloin